Director Jeffrey Mace stood in what was once Phil Coulson's office staring out of the window. He did not turn as Coulson and May were escorted into his office. They stood watching him, waiting for whatever nonsense he was about to spill or whatever order they were about to disobey because they were definitely not going anywhere until they were sure Daisy was safe. She would not be safe anywhere near Mace.
The Director brought his hands behind his back and clasped them at the base of his spine. Coulson and May took a deep breath in tandem, exhaling in the same fashion. This in itself showed their united front and Mace already knew he could do very little to influence either of them.
"Talbot has no idea, Agent Johnson is here." He stated blankly without turning around.
May and Coulson exchanged glances and waited for him to continue. The silence in the room grew deafening. Coulson broke it. "If that's all you wanted, we have somewhere else to be. And excuse me…did you just say Agent Johnson?"
"I understand." Mace answered still staring out at the blue sky and ignoring his question. The couple shrugged their eyebrows and turned to leave. "I understand a lot more than I did before." Mace continued.
Coulson stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned back. May closed her eyes in an effort to calm herself. "If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise we're leaving." Coulson's tone left no room for argument.
"I've spoken to former Agent Martinelli." He turned but did not make eye contact. "She still has a lot of pull around here." He managed a weak smile. The couple did not return it, merely stood waiting for him to make his point. "I just wanted you both to know that she's safe here. No one will touch her. You have my guarantee." He smiled again.
"Too little, too late, Mace," Melinda growled. "Your guarantees are worthless. We all know you're nothing more than Talbot's puppet and who the hell knows who's pulling his strings." Vehemence dripped from her stinging comment.
Mace's face was beginning to hurt from smiling. He nodded and scuffled from foot to foot keeping his head down to hide the blush he could feel rising.
"I have to agree with May." Coulson added making a visible effort to keep the animosity out of his own voice. "And still I have no idea why you called us here, but…" Suddenly he had a thought, a chilling thought and he moved closer to the Director balling his fists and causing May to tense into a defensive stance. "If this is some half-assed maneuver to do anything with Daisy while you keep us here…I swear they'll scrape you up with a toy shovel and drop you in a plastic sand bucket after you bounce off that concrete four hundred feet below us. Powered or not, Mace, I'll throw your ass out that window and beat you to the ground just so I can watch you splatter!" May moved to his side, the look in her eyes enough threat. She needed no words.
Mace raised his hands in front of him, that moronic smile once again spreading across his face. "I assure you, I have no ulterior motives. Daisy…er, ah, Agent Johnson is safe. I've posted a guard outside the med bay. No one gets in without my…I mean without your…both of you…your permission. That includes Talbot and any of his associates."
For a moment the three simply stared at each other…each daring the other to give in first.
"What's the catch?" May sneered without backing down.
Mace smiled that broad pasted on grin. "No catch, Agent May, none whatsoever." He shook his head and for some reason May had a fleeting memory of a used car salesman her father dealt with when she was just learning to drive. She shook it off and fought the urge to knock that insipid smirk off the man's face.
"Why the change of…dare I say…heart?" Coulson added with his own smirk now in place. "A bit of solidarity for a fellow inhuman or do you have some other plan up that covert sleeve?"
"That's no way to build trust, Phil." The director countered turning his head at an odd angle to peer at his adversary
"Afraid I've mislaid those blueprints, Jeff." Coulson volleyed back emphasizing the 'f' in the man's given name. May folded her arms over her chest and glared.
"Ha," Mace gave a grunt but knew he was no match for Coulson's brand of sarcasm. "I know you ran the place a bit differently than I do, Phil but that's just the way it is. What I'm having a hard time saying is that…" He paused and looked at Coulson and then to May who still glared. He was pretty sure they wouldn't believe anything he had to say. "That…Talbot is not behind this. Again he doesn't even know we…I mean you found her."
"Actually, that was Martinelli…" Coulson corrected.
"Right…that's right," Mace agreed and moved on without missing a beat, "by the time he, Talbot has any idea there'll be nothing he can do. I just need your help with one thing…"
"And there it is!" May threw her hands up and turned away in disgust.
"We have no intention of getting inv…" Coulson began, advancing once again on the taller man.
Mace reached for a file on his desk then held it out in front of him. "Wait…just wait, hear me out, please." He turned and dropped the file on the empty desk, opened it and spread the papers across the surface. "It is covert…but not the way you think." He seemed nervous. Newspaper clippings blaring the exploits of 'Quake', police reports and a rather sinister photo of their girl were among the forms he leafed through.
Coulson and May exchanged glances and stepped forward.
Daisy stared at the small girl that sat on the cold stone next to her. Although the child wore only a light cotton smock and no shoes or socks she did not seem to mind the chilly room. She looked more like she was ready to spend the day at the beach than to sit in this cold prison cell.
The child reached out and took Daisy's hands before she could pull them away. She cringed expecting pain that never came. The girl's touch was gentle and warm. When she released Daisy hands the pain had dissipated although the bruising and mottling remained. She rubbed her hands over her arms feeling for the pressure casts that were not there and furrowed her brows at the smiling child.
"Feels better, huh?" The little girl giggled.
"How'd you get in here?" Daisy wondered out loud.
"You let me in." The child answered as if Daisy should have known. She picked at a small scab on her knee. "See this," she pointed to the inch long cut and Daisy leaned over to examine it. "I fell on the playground. I didn't even cry, got my own band aid, too." She grinned with pride
"What are you doing here?" Daisy asked, confusion messing with her throbbing skull as she scratched at the spot where a thin scar marred her knee. "You shouldn't even be in a place like this."
"Welllllll…you're here." The child pointed out smiling at Daisy through her much too long bangs.
"Yeah," Daisy agreed massaging her temples. "Well, I wasn't given much of a choice and I don't even know how the hell I got here. Do you have a name?"
"That's a dumb question and you shouldn't say hell. The sisters'll wash your mouth out…again." The little girl shook her head and stared for a moment before continuing. "Of course I have a name. I got lots of 'em, don't you?" Daisy stopped rubbing her head and tried to focus on the girl. "Today I'm Harriet. Lot's of people don't like that name but I do and I need it today cuz today I am working in espee-o-nodge."
"Today…today you're Harriet?" Daisy closed her eyes. "You have a different name for different days?"
"Yep," the girl popped the 'p' loudly causing Daisy to jump a bit. "Don't you?" She asked as if she didn't believe it. She pushed her legs out straight in front of her and wiggled her toes. "Yesterday I was Annie cuz I was looking for somebody, but you already founded them. Tomorrow…I didn't decide yet what it will be, but it will be something fantastic…or wonderful." She spread her arms up and out as if she were about to give a cheer, finished with pride then stood up and walked to the table where the sharp instruments had fallen to the floor.
"Why are you here?" She asked as she squatted down to examine the shiny articles, poking at them with one finger.
"Hey," Daisy warned, trying to stand and sitting back down twice before succeeding. "Don't touch that…you'll hurt yourself."
"Like you?" The girl called Harriet asked.
"What? No." Daisy answered.
"They hurt you…those bad people. You need to make them go away. You know that, right?"
"I thought they were gone." Daisy sighed. "Guess they're just part of my own private Hell."
"You said it again," the little girl tsked. "Didn't you learn the last time? Boy, are you dopey."
"Last time?" Daisy groaned squeezing her eyes shut to squash the pain in her head.
The child stood up and turned back toward the older girl. "This isn't Hell, you know. You think it is but that's just you thinking it or maybe dreaming it, cuz you're not dead…just kinda… sleeping." She nodded in agreement with herself and hopped across the floor on one foot then two as if she were playing hopscotch.
"Yeah, well if that's the case, I'd kinda like to wake up…anytime now." Daisy huffed wondering if this kid ever stopped moving.
"You can't." The little girl shook her head. "Cuz you keep letting them bugs bite you cuz you keep fighting and you just need to let them in."
"The bugs?" Now Daisy was confused. She rubbed her temples again and wished for some Tylenol…or Motrin…or even a damn baby aspirin…
The girl bent over with laughter. "No, silly," she squeaked, "your mom and dad. They're Jemma's bugs anyways and she's just tryin' to help."
Daisy didn't answer just pictured again the monstrous couple gloating over the broken bodies of May and Coulson. What had they done with their bodies? How would she ever explain what happened? If the new director threw her into some god-forsaken cell or sealed her in some gel matrix like that bastard Hive, she deserved it. She'd destroyed every little bit of good she had been given, slowly and methodically she was responsible for their demise. She brought her hands to her heart, the pain was crushing and each breath intensified that pain. She belonged here in this Hell and yes…in Hell it did hurt to be dead.
"You didn't say why you're here." The little girl interrupted her train of thought suddenly standing right next to her and staring up at her.
"I…they brought me here." She answered without thinking.
"You let them." The child accused.
"I couldn't stop them."
"You didn't even try." Now she stood on the opposite side.
"Yes, I did."
"Didn't," she danced in a circle around Daisy to music apparently only she could hear.
"Did"
"Didn't," the child spun around causing her smock to spread in a circle around her.
"DID!"
The girl stopped, turned her head to one side and came into focus. Daisy realized the child was Asian. At least part Asian. Probably one of Jiaying's little minions…probably not even a real child…probably…oh, gawd could she be Jiaying…did she have that kind of power? If it didn't hurt so much she'd shake her head to clear her thoughts.
The little girl pinched her face into a comical scowl. "You think too much, now. That's why your head hurts. We didn't used to think so much." She tapped a finger on the side of her own head. "No, tomorrow I will not be Jiaying." She growled a little puppy growl as she walked away from Daisy. "We won't ever be Jiaying." She snarled over her shoulder as she skipped away. It seemed too resentful to be coming from such a little kid.
"My head hurts because some damn bastard tried to crack open my skull." Then looked at the child wondering where that last comment had come from…could the kid read minds, too? And why… Was she saying, 'we'?
"You said another bad word," the little girl shook her head and looked forlorn. "You better wise up, Missy!" She shook a finger at the older girl then quickly switched gears. "Really? Did they really crack your head? You mean like Humpty Dumpty? Lemme see!" The little girl's eyes grew wide. "Can I see?" She moved closer to Daisy and pulled on her jacket, standing on her tiptoes in an effort to look at her head.
"No-wa!" Daisy flagged her away and blew a frustrated breath over her lips. "Did they send you here to torture me?"
The child laughed a full belly laugh. "No, silly they didn't send me here, you let me in. Member?"
"Listen kid," Daisy suddenly felt very tired, "I am pretty sure I didn't 'let you in' because if I could let you in then I would certainly let myself out."
"Right," the little girl smiled.
May and Coulson walked back into Daisy's room. The girl lay still on the bed now encased in sleeve-like casts that reached from across her collar bones to the tips of her fingers on both hands. It looked like she wore a sweat shirt that had had the body piece ripped away.
"The design of this pressure cast gives her the ability to move without making her injuries worse. She'll have to wear it for quite some time, I'm afraid." Jemma explained. "She has hundreds of fractures, as you've probably guessed, but thankfully none on or even near her neck or skull. The procedure from this morning is in tact as well. I guess we did get a bit lucky."
Phil dropped the file he had been carrying under his arm on the small table across from the bed. "Apparently, the new director had a change of heart." He nodded toward the file and Jemma picked it up. She asked for permission with her eyes and he again nodded. She opened the file and scanned the first few forms then looked up wide eyed.
"Is this legitimate? Can he do this?" She asked, trying not to let her excitement show.
"I'm sure Agent Martinelli was very instrumental in the whole thing." May added before Coulson affirmed what Jemma imagined.
"This keeps her safe. Makes her legitimate, makes her Agent Daisy Johnson, again." Phil did not sound as thrilled as the young doctor thought he should sound. "I plan on having a little chat with Miss Martinelli myself when this is over." He looked at May and caught her subtle nod.
"Then he's given her a reprieve?" Jemma asked, leafing quickly through the file.
"He'll announce she's been undercover…working off the grid since…since"
"Since Lincoln," May finished for him.
Jemma smiled a half-hearted sad smile. No one needed to say what they all thought. All of this would be moot if Daisy herself did not agree to it…if she refused to come home…home where she belonged. She thought it best to change the subject.
"I've completed a few tests and as I suspected there is no evidence of infection or further swelling. I think she's just having a hard time fighting her way back to consciousness. It can happen. We need to keep talking to her…keep drawing her back. I plan to wean her off the sedatives. I've spoken to Fitz. He's working on a new set of gauntlets. Hopefully, he'll have them by the end of the week. Most importantly we cannot let her use her powers, at all. Another episode like this morning and I'm not sure what I will be able to do. It could k…" She stopped herself, not wanting to so much as think about what could happen and certainly not wanting to plant that seed in May or Coulson's minds. They had enough to worry about right now.
Jemma had felt for years, well in all honesty since the first few weeks Daisy, then Skye, had joined the team that Coulson had some sort of connection with her. When she and Fitz found out that Skye was, in fact, a foundling, they had taken bets on whether or not Coulson was her long lost father and that lead to May, of course, being her mother. Both were broken-hearted when Cal turned out to be that parent and although Jemma had never met Jiaying she had a deep hatred for the woman. As far as Jemma was concerned, and she kept this as close to her heart as any secret she ever had, May and Coulson were Daisy's parents. They deserved each other and needed each other just as much. The only other person who felt this strongly about their relationship and was trusted with Jemma's secret was Fitz. Jemma would not let any of them down.
Coulson nodded as Jemma's comment fell away. He knew but refused to believe that they were that close to losing Daisy. May stepped closer to the bed and rested her hand on Daisy's leg. It was no longer possible to hold her hand. Only her finger tips poked out of the casts on both hands with a small opening on one to allow the IV access. "You get back here, nan nan, we have a lot to talk about."
"Your mother really wants to talk to you, you know, and you need to go back to her." Harriet, the little girl, announced as she plopped back down on the stone step.
"I have nothing to say to her," Daisy moaned as she too sat on the step again. "She was never my mother." She spit out as she dropped her head onto her hands and rested her elbows on her knees.
"Not that mother," the little girl took a deep breath, sucked in her bottom lip and rolled her eyes. "Geez, you're so dumb sometimes, Daisy. You're Daisy today, right?"
"Yes," Daisy couldn't remember telling the kid her name, but everything was so fuzzy she couldn't remember much of anything. "Who else would I be?" Daisy had jumbled memories of names she had tried out during her younger days. Some were so exotic and some just run of the mill. It seemed that every time she read a book or saw some crazy movie she'd adopt that name and try it out for a day or so. She called herself Max after seeing the movie version of Where the Wild Things Are* and used Alexander for a week after reading about his no good, very bad day.* She'd been Ramona, Margaret, Meg and even, for a little while just plain Mary after reading The Secret Garden*. No one ever really listened or would agree to address her with that moniker but she liked it anyway regardless of the number of times she was punished for not answering to her given name.
"You know why I'm Harriet today?" The little girl waited for a reply resting her chin on her hand and staring at the older girl. Daisy only shook her head. "Cuz I'm a spy today, like Harriet in the book…like you."
"I'm not a spy, kid. I'm not anything." Daisy grumbled pushing ancient memories aside.
"That's silly. Everybody's somebody. You like to read books. Do you know that Mr. Jarvis had a daughter?" Harriet seemed to bounce from topic to topic. It made Daisy dizzy.
Daisy turned her head without lifting it. "Please go away." She whined.
"Nope" The little girl popped. "We got work to do, you and me." She pointed to Daisy and then to herself.
"There is NO WAY out of here, kid. So if you have some secret passage, please use it." She immediately regretted yelling as her voice bounced around in her head like a BB in a boxcar. And every ping hurt more than the one before.
"You know the secret. You just never told anybody, but they know." Harriet's voice sounded tinny mixed in with all the ricocheting in her brain.
Daisy really wanted to cry. She wanted to shout that she had no secrets but that would be a lie and shouting would really hurt and probably stir up all those BB's. She pressed her hands against her face attempting to hold her head together.
"Your parents are waiting for you, Daisy. Come on, let's go." Harriet urged pulling on Daisy's hand.
"They know where I am. Let them come and get me." She mumbled through her hands.
"They're trying, but you have to let them in." Harriet pulled harder causing Daisy's body to rock back and forth.
Daisy was surprised at the lack of pain and suddenly had the thought that Satan was not a crazed nun but a blabber-mouth little mostly Asian girl who couldn't sit still to save her soul.
'Mary Sue Poots! You are nothing but a blabber-mouth trouble-maker that cannot sit still to save your soul!' Sr. Regina admonished as she yanked the small girl from the church and dragged her by the arm toward certain punishment.
Harriet put her hands over her ears and grimaced at the sound of the nun's voice as it echoed in their stone chamber. "That was awful, wasn't it? She was pretty mean and swung a wicked paddle, too. You…well, actually *we* didn't sit down at all that day." Harriet shook her head.
Daisy raised her brows and stared at the little girl.
"I'm not a mind reader." The kid smiled. "I just think the same as you, member too."
"Well, angel…here we are," Coulson spoke to the girl seemingly asleep yet attached to tubes and wires that wound around the bed and connected to the blipping monitors at his side. It had been three days and she still remained the same although the bruises on her face had all but healed. She looked peaceful and he felt almost guilty disturbing her, yet she needed to wake.
"I wonder if anyone ever read to you, tucked you in, kissed you goodnight." He bent over and kissed her forehead. She swallowed, whimpered softly and tried to move closer to him, but remained deep in semi-comatose sleep. That's what they were calling it now…a semi-coma.
"I would have." He whispered to her. "I would have hugged you and kissed you and carried you on my shoulders and tucked you in and…well we would have done a lot of things, but now…now." He stopped himself, realizing it was much too late to do any of the things a father would do with his little girl and for just a moment he sympathized with Cal, felt the same loss that he must have felt…when he was lucid. Coulson closed his eyes and pictured himself holding Daisy's tiny hand as she took her first steps, as he walked with her to her first day of school and the first time she threw her arms around him before that fateful trip to Puerto Rico. He wished he had hugged her back. It wasn't that he didn't want to, she had surprised him…shocked him really and it was so quick he barely had time to react. He would never take another of her hugs for granted. It was time, as soon as she was able to listen…to understand. 'Please God,' he prayed for the first time in more years than he could count, 'please let her be able to understand…please.' He gently squeezed the girl's hand and swallowed the tears about to fall.
"I am going to read to you. I don't know what you like but we'll start off easy and build up. So, you just listen and hey, if you don't like it just speak up and we'll find something else." He brushed a stray hair from her face and sat on the chair close to the bed opening the cover on the brightly colored hard-cover book. "In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of - the cow jumping over the moon…"*
May stood inside the door, smiling. "She's not four-years-old, Phil." She shook her head as he nodded, pushed up his glasses and continued.
"Look it's working!" Harriet squealed as she pointed at the red balloon that bounced against the ceiling. Daisy watched as it drifted across the room, a long string dangling like a skinny tail. She'd wonder how the damn thing got in but then she'd also have to think about why the dark grey walls were now a bright lime green.
"Hey, I wonder if that works!" Harriet exclaimed as she dashed across the floor and picked up the receiver on a rotary phone that had to be at least fifty years old. "It's not even a fake one…look it really does work!" She put her finger into one of the circles and pulled the dial back. Daisy could hear the clickety sound as it returned and the buzzy dial tone between the twirls. "Come on, Daisy, it's working. You're letting them in."
Daisy watched as the tiny cow, in the framed picture that had suddenly appeared on the wall, leapt over the tiny crescent moon. She blinked several times as the scene glitched then replayed like some crazy facebook post.
"I know you can hear me, Daisy." May's voice was soft and low, "and I've had enough of this crap." She wasn't yelling, which was a whole lot scarier than if she was. May wasn't asking she was ordering and…
Harriet hung up the phone and cocked an ear toward the ceiling as if listening. "Uh-oh, your mom is kinda mad. You better listen or you're gonna be in bbbbbiiiigggggg trouble." She giggled.
Daisy stood up, stood up without wobbling or losing her balance. "May?" She turned in a circle searching for the sound of the voice. She hadn't realized it at first, but she could hear her mentor's voice. It was close and felt as if it came from everywhere.
"Do you hear me, xiǎo gūniang? I'm done with this whole damn thing. It's time for you to wake up." May gently shook the girl's shoulder. Daisy moaned almost imperceptibly.
Harriet covered her mouth and giggled again pointing at Daisy. "She called you little girl."
Daisy ignored the child's teasing and stood turning in all directions, searching for the source of the sound. "I hear you May. I do." She tried to keep the tears out of her voice. "Are you alright? Where are you?"
"You have to let her in." Harriet reminded her, shaking her head and pronouncing each word as if it were a song.
The large door rattled on its hinges and both girls turned toward it.
"They're coming." Harriet whispered turning wild eyes toward Daisy. "Don't let them in, Daisy, send them away."
"Daisy, come on, you can do it. We need you to open your eyes and talk to us." Coulson wasn't quite as urgent but he was firm…more so than usual.
"Like that time you kept asking him the same question and he said he answered it. Is this a conversation you're not comfortable with?" Harriet asked as the banging on the large door grew louder. "I think you need to be more comfortable, cuz he sounds kinda mad but I don't think he's mad at us…maybe you need to trust the system more." The little girl looked up at Daisy who watched as the large door shook with the force behind it.
"We've tried everything else," Simmons instructed. "She hasn't had any sedatives for the last three days. She needs to wake up and you are the only people she is responding to right now. You'll need to be firm, angry if need be, make her listen to you. The longer she stays in this state the harder it will be to wake her."
Coulson nodded. He'd been so afraid to take an angry tone with the girl, afraid he'd lose his temper completely and tear into her with all the anger he had suppressed since she'd disappeared months ago. He also feared that anger would push her even farther away…so far that she'd never come back and he couldn't be responsible for that. He wanted to pull her up and shake her and tell her how upset he was at her and then hug her so tightly that she'd barely be able to take a breath. How could this kid not know how much she meant to him and how could he have not told her when he had the chance? He'd told May, told her that Daisy was the daughter he never had and somehow he knew she felt the same way…felt the same guilt at having never told her. Now, he needed her to wake up…wake up so he could finally tell her, and make her believe it.
"DAISY! Daisy you listen to me and you listen good, I want you to open your eyes. Right now, Daisy! You've been sleeping long enough!" Coulson barked at the young girl.
"Coulson?" Again Daisy spun. There was no where to hide in this green room there had to be speakers somewhere. "Is that really you, Coulson? He…he killed you…" She brushed at the hot tears blurring her vision. She had to close her eyes against the sting and found it so very hard to open them again.
"Uh-oh, your daddy's mad too. We're in big trouble, Mary Sue. I don't know what we did this time but you better hope Sr. Regina doesn't find out or your aaaa…."
The rapping and banging on the door became violent. Shards of wood flew from it and fell to the floor. Daisy pushed the smaller girl behind her and backed away. "Don't let them open it, don't let them get us, Daisy." Harriet whimpered.
"Daisy, do you hear me. No, I know you hear me. You come back right now, now Daisy." May's voice was more intense. Daisy could sense the anger, almost feel it. It raged throughout the room. She looked down at her arms expecting to see the rise of more bruises and mottled skin, but the power was not coming from her nor was the tiny girl now cowering behind her responsible. She wrapped an arm around the girl in an attempt to comfort her…an odd jolt surprised her…like getting a shock after dragging your stocking feet over a new carpet, only stronger.
"May?…May, I hear you May." Daisy tried to keep the panic out of her voice. Control yourself, May would tell her. Breathe, she would say. The door banged again. They were almost through. Daisy drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. She felt the child do the same.
"Call them!" Harriet screamed over the din. "Tell them you need them…call your mom and dad, the *real* ones before the monsters get us for real Daisy." She looked toward the door then back to the girl standing next to her. "Please, Daisy, please save yourself." Her voice was different…not so childlike…familiar but not… "You did it once before, remember…remember when the bad man was beating him and you thought he would kill him…remember…remember you said 'Dad!' and he stopped but you weren't calling the bad man then were you? You were calling him…cuz he was Dad and you knew it. Please remember, Daisy, Please."
Daisy spun around and squatted down to the girl's level, looking her in the eye for the first time and realizing she had been looking into a mirror…a mirror of her younger self. The child was crying and immediately wrapped her thin arms around Daisy's neck. "You have to save us, Daisy. We know who our parents are, the ones we always said we'd have…the ones that we prayed about when the sisters made us kneel in church, remember Mary Sue…remember me when I needed them to love me and care about me and do anything for me. You found them when you stopped looking cuz they were just there and they love you and me and they get mad sometimes but they love us and they even yell at us when we're sleeping." She sniffled and looked at the door straining against whatever threatened to break through the turned, put her small hands on either side of Daisy's face and whispered softly. "Please, Skye, call them. Call them, Daisy, please."
The door banged like a giant gong and now she could hear Cal laughing and singing behind it. Jiaying's voice came over the noise as well placating the Cal-creature and whispering her name over and over.
Daisy drew a deep breath and blinked away the tears that blinded her. She looked at the small child crying against her chest and felt the despair in her heart. What she felt most was shame…shame for not knowing, for almost throwing all of it away…for hurting the people she loved and needed. The door shook with ferocity, it would not hold much longer. Splinters of wood and what seemed to be nuts and bolts broke free and sailed about the room on a wind that had forced its way through the many cracks. Daisy swallowed her panic.
"MAY…COULSON…HELP US…" Daisy screamed as the door began to break. "Please, please hear me…please help us…help me." She wrapped her arms around the child and braced herself for what was to come.
Daisy moaned, lurched forward and reached one hand out searching…searching for a lifeline. May grasped it gently, mindful of the purplish fingers that stuck out of the still present cast. "Help me…please" Her voice was raspy and the words garbled, but they sensed her panic.
"I'm right here, nan nan, you're safe." May assured her, frantic at the fact she could not rescue the girl from what ever terror was consuming her. Phil moved to her side placing his hand around both of theirs. May looked at him. They spoke together. "You have to wake up Daisy."
"Wake up, bao bao, wake up and it will all be over."
"Come on, angel…open those eyes."
"Let them in!" Harriet sobbed.
"Daaaaaaa-zeeeeeee," Crazy Cal was singing again.
"Daughter," Jiaying breathed.
Daisy felt the panic rising again and somewhere an alarm was sounding. Harriet slapped her hands over her ears and cowered. "They're almost through." She screamed over the turmoil.
Jemma raced to the monitors watching as Daisy's vitals soared. She grabbed the already prepared hypodermic dreading the thought of putting the girl out again knowing she might never come back.
"Mmmmmmmmm…." The sound came from Daisy as she struggled to form a word. "Mmmm.."
"I'm here." May placed her hand on Daisy's cheek. "I'm right here."
"MOM!" The word was loud and clear, forcing May back before she moved closer. "Mom, mom," Daisy gulped for air as if she had just forced her way through deep water. "Mom, help me…please." She released the breath in a loud sob, flailing in what Jemma feared was a seizure. She quickly grabbed the anti-seizure pen. Daisy drew another breath and struggled to sit up. She reached out with both arms. "Dad…Daddy, please help me….please."
"I'm here," Coulson's voice cracked.
She sprang up, eyes wide with fear yet not focused, not seeing anyone in the room.
The door burst inward sending needle-like wooden shards in all directions across the room. Daisy threw her arms up to protect her face while shielding the little girl with her body. She felt the stings of wood chips bounce against her body as what was left of the large doors crashed to the floor. The wind raged and the voices combined in a deafening cacophonous crescendo…then dropped away into silence.
The noise stopped…the banging…the beeping…the screaming…the singing…everything…the world went silent. Not the kind of silence when you could hear that odd buzzing but utter and complete silence. For a moment Daisy thought she might have gone deaf. Slowly she lowered her arm and looked through her fingers at the bright light that streamed through the large doorway and around the silhouettes that stood in its center.
"Mom?…" she whispered in a little girl's plea…and it wasn't just a word it was a person, a real person…someone she loved and needed and wanted…someone who loved and needed and wanted her…and it was Melinda May.
"MOMMY!" Harriet shrieked as she pushed away and around Daisy. She ran through the jagged wood pieces on her little bare feet. Daisy tried to grab her but the child slipped easily away. "DADDY," she cried as she threw herself into their arms as the couple stepped into the room and squatted down to gather her in their arms.
Daisy felt her stomach turn as she watched her child-self melt into…into…not the monsters she expected. For a second for a second she could only watch as May and Coulson held the tiny girl in their arms, covering her with kisses and hugging her to them. Today's Harriet wrapped her arms around the man that held her then reached for the woman at his side. He handed her off then took her back and kissed her again. They smiled through their tears. Daisy's heart ached with one wish…that she could be that little girl and a split second later it was Daisy herself in their arms, hugging them close and being smothered with kisses. She hugged back…and let her tears join theirs.
Daisy drew a deep breath and tried to stop shaking. The room was spinning and that blasted beeping was enough to make her want to quake the whole place. Someone held her hand, something was tight on her arms, her shoulders. She turned her head and looked into dark concerned eyes. "Mo…May," she swallowed. Coulson moved into her line of sight and she smiled, "Coulson…" she breathed. She took a deep breath and exhaled a sob. Reaching out with her casted arms she ached for their embrace and they obliged.
"It's okay," Coulson soothed squeezing her gently. "As soon as you're healed we're gonna have a real group hug." She laughed through a sob, taking deep breaths and May wiped away the tears before placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Don't you EVER do that again." May scolded.
"Welcome back," Jemma whispered and Daisy turned to her inviting yet another careful hug.
"I need to tell you something…something important." Daisy tried to speak through the deep breaths she needed as she leaned against Jemma's shoulder.
"Shhh, shhhh, there's plenty of time for talk," Coulson smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed, lightly touched his finger against her lips then took her back against his own shoulder and placed a kiss on top of her head.
"No…no, this can't wait," Daisy tried to slow her breathing and shake her head but stopped herself and reached out for May's hand. "Now…I…have…to…tell…you…now." She looked from one to the other moving only her eyes and rested against Coulson. "Please."
May looked at the girl leaning against the man she knew she loved. She didn't see a SHIELD Agent or a powerful Inhuman, it wasn't Daisy Johnson or Quake…all she saw was her little girl who needed her and right now she'd give her the world if she asked. One look at Phil and she knew he was thinking the same thing as he wrapped his arms around the girl he held so gently.
"We need to talk to you, too." May stated quietly. "But right now, you just need to relax and take your time. We aren't going anywhere."
"I think she might be running on pure adrenalin." Jemma explained as she held a stethoscope to Daisy's chest and placed two fingers against her neck to feel her pulse. Yes, the monitors could do the job, but she needed to touch Daisy, to feel her life beating under her own fingers. She slipped an oxygen mask over Daisy's face and with a look warned her to leave it there. "This will wear off and I'm afraid she's…you," she pointed a finger at the girl, "will be very tired. We are not going to overdo it, are we?"
Daisy shook her head minutely and allowed herself to relax into the strong embrace of her father. She worked at taking deep slow breaths and letting them out slowly realizing she was watching May who sat in front of her and did the same. She smiled a little smile. They were together. They wouldn't leave her or send her away…they would bring her back and she'd stay.
*with deep respect for
Good Night Moon – Margaret Wise Brown, Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day – Judith Viorst, and The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett